Romulan bird-of-prey (22nd century)
The Romulan bird-of-prey was a type of Romulan Star Empire starship, a bird-of-prey in Imperial Fleet service in the 22nd century. These vessels were most notably in service as combatant vessels during the Earth-Romulan War. ( , |Beneath the Raptor's Wing|To Brave the Storm}}, ) Specifications The Romulan bird-of-prey was built in the 22nd century. The ship was 130 meters long; smaller than the contemporary warbird. The bird-of-prey was composed of a single saucer-shaped hull with a pair of up-swept warp nacelles mounted on either side. The ship was colored dark green, the customary Romulan livery of the time, and the nacelles gave off an intense green glow. ( ) In 2159, some of the Romulan bird-of-preys were grey. ( }}) The bird-of-prey was armed with disruptor cannons and beam arrays. The Romulan bird-of-prey's hull was tear-drop shaped. A pair of green-glowing impulse engine exhausts were mounted at the aft of the saucer. Above them, the stabilizer fin was affixed to the rearmost part of the ship. The hull was segmented and included a shield-generating deflector grid. The twin disruptor emitter was mounted on the bow of the ship, below the two main decks of the saucer. Whereas a section on the bottom of the ship was recessed one deck, the dorsal hull contained a raised section with an additional two decks and the main bridge on top. The pylons swept up- and forward aggressively. Dagger-like pointed nacelles sat at their ends. ( ) The bird-of-prey was superior to a United Earth starship, although took measures to match the combat capabilities when they built the . Although vessels of this class were used as testbeds for early Romulan cloaking devices, after the was destroyed by antimatter-containment failure in its test stealth systems the Romulans did not develop a successful cloaking system for decades. ( ; ) History The Romulan bird-of-prey was built in the 22nd century. ( ) Two ships of the class were equipped with prototype starship cloaking devices in the 2150s, the and the . ( , ) These birds-of-prey were present at Unroth III, participating in the first contact between the Romulan Star Empire and United Earth in 2152. They watched the ''Enterprise'' (NX-01) while the Human ship was crippled by the minefield surrounding the planet's orbit. The Romulans demanded the Humans vacate Romulan space and fired warning shots at Enterprise. The two birds-of-prey cloaked when the Enterprise successfully departed the system. ( ) During the Earth-Romulan War between 2156 and 2160, Romulan birds-of-prey fought against the United Earth and its allies. Four such ships engaged an Earth Starfleet cruiser and a starship, Enterprise during the war. One of the birds-of-prey veered out of control after being damaged by the Earth ships. ( ) On February 16, 2157, the , and destroyed a Vissian outpost in the Gamma Hydra sector, and engaged a Human patrol fleet consisting of eight ships, led by Enterprise. The Romulans retreated when the Khuea and the Grukhai were destroyed by the Vissians. On December 29, 2157, the Terrh'Dhael rendezvoused with the warbird at Haakona, after the planet's civilization had been destroyed by the Romulans. ( |To Brave the Storm}}) In 2159, Romulan starships engaging the Earth forces were grey-colored. ( }}) On May 1, 2160, the Terrh'Dhael engaged warp drive during a suicide run against Draylax. The planet was heavily damaged, and the Draylaxians were brought on the edge of extinction. ( |To Brave the Storm}}) In the 23rd century, this class of ship was succeeded by the bird-of-prey. ( ) In the 25th century, the design of the 22nd century bird-of-prey was revived for the . ( ) Known vessels * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * [[ChR Praetor Pontilus|RIS Prateus]]'' '' * * * * * * * * * unnamed 22nd century Romulan bird-of-prey starships Appendices Connections External link * 2100s bird of prey category:bird of prey classes 2100s bird of prey